


do you remember (when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire)

by Hexiva



Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Drawing, FSociety Arcade, Gen, Mr. Robot Appreciation Week, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26088340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hexiva/pseuds/Hexiva
Summary: Host Elliot imagines a secret headquarters for his angry anarchist superhero, the Mastermind.
Relationships: Elliot Alderson & The Mastermind
Kudos: 17





	do you remember (when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire)

**Author's Note:**

> For Mr. Robot Appreciation Week, prompt: Favorite Season OR Favorite Location. Of course, I chose the latter, and my favorite location is the FSociety arcade. It's just so atmospheric. Thanks to Kyra for organizing this!
> 
> Title from "I was a Teenage Anarchist" by Against Me.

After a long day at Allsafe, Elliot booted up his Mac and logged into the hidden partition. He opened up the image of his main character - the angry anarchist hacker who called himself the Mastermind - and stared into his eyes. Even though it was his own face that he drew, he didn’t see himself when he looked into those cold, staring eyes. He saw - someone he might have been a long time ago. The parts of himself he put away a long time ago, the parts of himself he cut away to be who he was today. 

He suspected the Mastermind would have said he’d sold out. That he’d given up on saving the world and become a corporate stooge. But Elliot didn’t truly feel that way; he knew he’d just grown up. He didn’t regret that he was no longer the angry young man he had been, once upon a time - but neither did he resent that part of him. And this project of his, his little comic, this was his way of paying tribute to that part of him. 

He shut his eyes and reached down into the part of him that was the Mastermind, cloaking himself in the mindset of the angry young man. He could almost feel the fabric of the black hoodie brushing against his skin, and hadn’t he used to dress like that when he was a kid? When did he stop?

Now he tried to imagine the kind of place the Mastermind would be in. Not his house, where he slept - his  _ base,  _ his secret headquarters, the place where he was really himself. What would it look like? 

A memory from Elliot’s childhood floated into his head: going to the arcade with his dad, on Coney Island, playing the arcade games, laughing when he beat his dad at Tekken. That had been a time when the angry young version of himself had been happy. Had felt like it was okay to be an outsider. 

Under Elliot’s tablet pen, the Mastermind’s base took shape. The abandoned arcade appeared in black lines on white - the popcorn machine, the ticket booth, the games, the ironic little sign on the front.  _ Fun Society,  _ with the  _ u  _ and the  _ n  _ missing. The perfect base for the Mastermind, with his motto emblazoned on the front:  _ Fuck society.  _

Elliot zoomed out and admired his handiwork, a little smile on his lips. He thought the Mastermind would like it. A place just for him, to launch his crusade. A place his creation could feel safe.

_ He deserves that,  _ Elliot thought to himself, and hit  _ save  _ on his work. Yes, this would do. The FSociety Arcade was perfect. 


End file.
